The state of cross-border legal services and education between the United States and its southern neighbor is the subject of the first research project of the new Center for U.S. and Mexican Law at the University of Houston Law Center.
In the past twenty years, there has been a dramatic increase in the movement of people, goods and services between Mexico and the U.S. This intricate economic and cultural relationship has given rise to an increase in the need for legal services, but attorneys in one country have much to learn about regulations, limitations, ethical sanctions and other issues applicable on the other side of the border.
The first phase of the research project will include a survey of cross-border legal services; an analysis of regulations dealing with cross-border legal services; a study of the requirements for licensing of foreign lawyers engaged in these services; and an assessment of the adequacy of legal education in preparing law students for practicing across the border. Subsequent phases will examine the impact of trade agreements, establish a database, look at challenges and opportunities, and offer proposals to improve the regulation of cross–border legal services in both countries.
The research is a joint project of the Center for U.S. and Mexican Law and the Centro de Estudios Sobre la Enseñanza y el Aprendizaje del Derecho (CEEAD), a Mexican independent, nonprofit research center dedicated to improving the quality of legal education and legal practice in Mexico. The binational project will be conducted by Mexican researchers under the direction of Dr. Luis Fernando Perez Hurtado, general director of CEEAD, and CEEAD Research Fellow Angel Enrique Maya Sanchez; and by U.S. researchers directed by UHLC Professor Stephen Zamora, director of the Center for U.S. and Mexican Law, and Ignacio Pinto-León, the Center’s assistant director.
The Center for U.S. and Mexican Law is the first research center in any U.S. law school devoted to the independent, critical study of Mexican law and legal aspects of U.S.–Mexico relations. See http://www.law.uh.edu/mexican-law.